Phone message systems have found widespread popularity and use. Generally, such systems provide a means for answering a phone call, with the caller able to leave a voice message for later retrieval and listening. Such systems are generally known, with a variety of mechanisms available for the recording of the message. By way of example, tape or other magnetic media may be used, in which case messages are recorded in succession as they occur. Some systems may “mark” or otherwise “flag” individual messages for organization purposes, so that upon playback a user may selectively navigate through the messages without having to listen to each message in succession.
In addition to phone message systems, caller identification systems are widespread. Generally, these systems allow a user to view on a display the identity of the originator of an incoming call. A history of incoming calls may be stored and viewed on the display, so that for instance a user can view the identities of incoming callers for the previous plurality of calls. In addition to the caller identity, a caller identification system may also store a time that the call was received. This may be of use, for instance, in viewing a history of incoming calls to determine when a particular call was received.
Caller identification and phone message systems as they are known have numerous problems associated with them. As an example, caller identification systems may not provide for messages. That is, caller identification systems as they are known may generally provide only a time of call made and an identity of the call originator. Phone message systems do of course provide messaging capabilities, but they lack caller identification features. Presumably the benefits of both systems could be enjoyed by employing both systems, but this would require purchase, installation, set-up, and maintenance of two separate systems. Additionally, use of the two systems could be cumbersome in that no cross referencing of calls between the two systems would be provided.
By way of additional example, many phone messaging systems are disadvantageous in that a history of calls received is not available without listening to each message received. Additionally, phone message systems by and large only provide recorded audio information. No information regarding the identity of a caller is provided unless the caller has chosen to indicate in the recorded message identity information. While caller identification systems of course provide these capabilities, use of two separate systems is disadvantageous for the reasons discussed above. Also, systems may not provide the ability to listen to messages except in succession as recorded. By way of example, if seven messages have been recorded, it may be impossible to listen to the seventh message without listening to, or at least queuing past, the first six messages. This can result in unwanted delay and effort.
These and other problems remain unresolved in the art.